For Authors

House Style for the Journal of Ethiopian Law

All contributions to the Journal of Ethiopian Law are expected to follow the rules of citation.

  1. 1. Contents of Citation

With the general purpose of giving sufficient information for readers of a contribution what work is referred to and where it can be obtained contributors should provide the following details as footnotes.

1.1Citation of Books

The first reference to a book should contain the following information in the following order:

  1. Author’s Name;

-Ethiopian Names should be spelled out in full.

-The first initial or first name of European names should precede the family name.

-If the book contains contributions by several authors, the name of the editor should appear in place of an author and the fact that she/he is the editor should be indicated in parentheses. If the reference is made to a specific contribution in such a work the footnote should begin with the author of that specific contribution and the title of the contribution in such a work. The footnote should begin with the author of that specific contribution and the title of the contribution in quotation marks followed by the information specified above for books in general.

- If the book has more than one author or editor, the names of all should be provided.

Examples;

  1. Smith, The Law of Bankruptcy (1992), Vol. 2, p. 312.

Tesfaye Tafesse, The Nile Question: Hydro Politics, Legal   Wrangling, Modes Vivendi and Perspectives,(2001),p. 24.

  1. Currie (ed.), Federalism and the New Nations of Africa (1964), p. 13.
  2. Thomas, “The War on Terror”, in W. Wright (ed.), New Frontier in the Laws of War, (2005), p.67.
  3. Title (Underlined);

-The full title of the book should be given without abbreviations.

-It is not necessary to give subtitles.

-The first letter of the first word of the title and every important word thereafter (including all nouns, adjectives, adverbs and names) must be capitalized.

 

Example;

Please refer to the examples provided above under section ‘a’.

 

  1. Edition Number, if there has been more than one edition (in parenthesis);

Example;

M.N. Shaw, International Law (5th ed., 2003), p. 345.

 

  1. Year of Publication (in parenthesis);

-If the book cited has more than one edition the year of publication to be provided is that of the edition referred to by a contributor.

-If an edition number is provided in the citation, the year of publication should appear in the same parenthesis after the edition number.

 

Example;

Pleas refer to the example provided above under section ‘c’.

 

  1. Number of the volume referred to, if the work has more than one volume;

-Volume number should be given in Arabic numerals in the manner illustrated below.

-The abbreviation of “volume” (vol.) should be used.

 

   Example;

M.Planiol and G.Ripert, Treatises on the Civil Law (11thed 1938), vol. 3, p. 211.

   

  1. Page referred to.

Example;

Pleas refer to the examples provided above.

 

  • Articles in Scholarly Journals and Magazines

The first reference to an article in scholarly journal or magazine should contain the following items in the following order

  1. Name of the article’s author
  2. Title of the article (in quotation marks without italics or underlining)
  3. Name of the magazine or the journal underlined (underlined)
  4. Volume number of the magazine or the journal
  5. Number of the issue or the part referred to
  6. Year of publication (in parentheses)
  7. Page referred or pages referred to

 

Example

  1. Graven, “The Penal Code of the Empire of Ethiopia,” Journal of Ethiopian Law, vol.1 (1964), p. 275

    

  • Newspapers and magazines

The first reference to an article in a newspaper or magazine should contain elements in the following order:

  1. Name of author
  2. Title of the Article or piece referred to (in quotation)
  3. Name of the Newspaper or the Magazine (Underlined)
  4. Date of the newspaper or magazine
  5. Page where the specific reference could be found
  6. Column where the specific reference may be found if more than one column is found on the page

 

Example

Mehari Taddele, “Brain Drain and Its Adverse Impact on the Achievement of MDGs and Poverty Reduction”, The Reporter, Feb. 16, 2008, p. 5.

  1. Zakaria, “The End of Conservatism”, News Week, Feb. 12, 2008, p .7.

“Ethiopian Airlines Makes Salary Adjustments”, The Reporter, Feb. 16, 2008, p.1.

 

  • Judicial Decisions

Citations of decisions of courts or other tribunals that are judicial in nature should appear in the form provided hereunder. The first reference to such decisions should contain the following information in the following order.

  1. Case name (in most cases this would be the name of the parties to the case)
  2. Case number or file number if the case is not published or in any other way in general circulation (in Parenthesis)
  3. The name of the court and its jurisdiction including the country where the decision is a foreign judgment (in parenthesis)
  4. Date of the decision (in parenthesis)
  5. Name of the case report or journal in which the decision as been found if the decision was found in such publications (underlined)
  6. Page where specific reference might be found

 

Example

Commercial Bank of Ethiopia v Alemitu Moges (Civil File No 20457, Federal High Court, February 13, 2005) (Unpublished)

Teferra Antenehe v Gemechu Megerssa, (Federal Supreme Court Cassation Division, December 21, 2002), Federal Supreme Court Cassation Division, vol. 4, p. 55.

 

  • Legislation

The firs reference to legislation should be cited using the full title of the legislation as found in the Official Gazette through which the legislation is promulgated. In addition to the number of the article or paragraph specifically referred to the number of the legislation should be indicated.

 

If the law has been amended, and the amendment is relevant in any way to the part of the law cited, the words ``as amended`` should be placed after the regular citation; this should be followed by a full citation to the law(s) which amends the original law cited.

 

Examples

Unfair Trade Practices Proclamation,1963, Art. 3,Proc. No 50, Neg. Gaz. Year 22, no. 22.

 

Courts Proclamation, 1962, Art. 1, Proc. No. 195, Neg.Gaz. Year 22, no 7, as amended, Courts (Amendment) Proclamation, 1962, Art. 2, Proc. No. 203, Id, Year 22, no 16

 

  • Government Documents and Reports

When referring to published government documents and reports, follow the same rules prescribed for books.

  • Unpublished Reports and Manuscripts

The first reference to unpublished reports and manuscripts should contain in the following order:

  1. Author's name
  2. Title (underlined)
  3. Date of the work was completed (in parenthesis)
  4. The word "unpublished" (in parenthesis)
  5. Place of the work may be found (in parenthesis)
  6. Page referred to

Example

Desta Gemechu, The Right to Self Determination under the FDRE Constitution, (2003, Unpublished, AAU Law Library) p. 32.

  • Interviews

Reference to materials obtained in an interview should contain in the following order:

  1. The word "interview with":
  2. Full name of the person interviewed:
  3. Position of the person interviewed
  4. Date of the interview

Interview with Ato Gossaye Mandefrot, Project Manager of Impact International, on 14 March 2007

 

  • Materials Obtained from the World Wide Web

The first reference to materials obtained from the World Wide Web should contain in the following order;

  1. Author's name in any
  2. Title of the material referred to in any (underlined)
  3. The Web exact web page where the material was found (in parenthesis)
  4. The last date on which the material was viewed on the website with the words "last visited"

Derartu Abebe, Higher Education in Ethiopia, (http://www.ethiopar.net/type/English/English.html) last visited on April 1

 

  1. Abbreviations

Authors intending to use abbreviations should the set out in full the name they intend to abbreviate at the first usage. The fully set out name should be immediately followed by the intended abbreviated form of the word, in brackets with the words "hereinafter".

Example

The Confederation of Ethiopian Labor Unions (hereinafter the CELU)

 

  1. Shortened forms of Citation

When a reference has once been made in the full form prescribed above, latter references to the same material may be made in abbreviated form.

 

When using such abbreviated forms of citation, the name of the author without initials should be provided. However other details of the referred material can be replaced by the words "cited above at note (the number of the footnote at which the first citation has appeared)". Volume number and page number must still be set out in the usual form.

Example

Shaw, cited above at note 8, p.246.

Planiol, cited above at note 11, vol.2, part1, p.33.

If reference is made to the same material without an intervening reference, the abbreviations Ibid. or Id. could be used.

Ibid. is used when the second reference is exactly the same as the previous reference i.e. the same volume, page, article, etc.

 

Id. should be used when there is a difference in the number of article, page etc. Hence these details should still be set out in the citation.

Example

  1. M.N. Shaw, International Law (5th ed., 2003), p. 345.
  2. Ibid
  3. J. Graven,“The Penal Code of the Empire of Ethiopia,” Journal of Ethiopian Law, vol.1 (1964), p. 275.
    1. Id, p.250